Legal metaphor in the structure of professional verbal consciousness: linguistic and pragmatic aspect

The article is devoted to the study of the English legal metaphor as an integral element of professional verbal consciousness. Based on the features of the metaphor due to its functions in the language of law, the place of the legal metaphor in the structure of the professional linguistic consciousness of a lawyer is determined. It is noted that the legal metaphor is a dead metaphor, since its expressive function is overlapped in importance by epistemological and pragmatic functions. It is established that a legal metaphor is part of the terminological layer of professional legal vocabulary, has an independent terminological status and has characteristics inherent in terms, representing the professional verbal consciousness of a lawyer. The analysis of the structure of metaphors was carried out and their structural classification was developed, including three groups of metaphors – monolexemic, dilexemic and polylexemic. All three groups of metaphors were further subjected to morphological analysis, as a result of which a grammatical classification was compiled – metaphors were divided into three groups based on their part-of-speech affiliation – nominal, verbal metaphors and metaphorical epithets. It is noted that in order to carry out a morphological analysis of polylexemic metaphors, it is necessary to identify the component in the term combination that has undergone metaphorical transfer. Based on the similarity of the characteristics of objects and phenomena, metaphors representing the traditionally distinguished four categories of metaphors are identified – anthropomorphic, naturomorphic, sociomorphic and artifact. A quantitative analysis of the recorded metaphors was carried out, which revealed the prevalence of the sociomorphic type. The naturomorphic metaphor is represented least frequently in the language of law. Further component analysis of nominal, verbal metaphors and metaphorical epithet, supplemented by etymological analysis, allowed the authors to describe the criteria characteristics of each of the grammatical groups of metaphors. Among the linguistic and pragmatic features of the legal metaphor, the function of simplifying the presentation of complex legal concepts, the function of creating an emotional connection, and the function of argumentation are noted. Prospects for further research are outlined, which include an intra-linguistic comparison of legal English variants in the countries of the Anglo-Saxon legal family with an emphasis on linguistic and cultural features, which will reveal differences in national variants of the professional verbal consciousness of lawyers in different English-speaking countries.